The Many Types of Silence
by kodatsu
Summary: A short story in which Osomatsu manages to be a pretty decent big brother. (blmatsu free)


"Hey- hey! I said wait up!" There was a pause in the other man's footsteps as he turned, walking backwards as he tried to speed up even. His smile was unmistakable—a trademark really. Choromatsu crossed his arms as the eldest finally came to a stop and then refused to move at all. "Let's get moving again, come on. You don't need to be so cruel."

"But I'm taking a break. Come on Choromatsu~ I need a break after walking _so fast_ …"

The words were just meant to mock Choro and he knew it, but it didn't matter. He shook his head in a dissapointed fashion and pushed past the _red_ brother. Oso let out a gasp, he must have been offended by such rude treatment, especially when it came from his favorite little brother! There were a few minutes where it was quiet, presumably Oso was thinking of something to say. Then he found the right words, or at least he assumed it was the right words.

"Cho-ro-mat-su-san!" He pronounced each syllable slowly, another tease. "Let niisan walk by you~ I won't walk to fast. I'll stay right by your side!" He grinned, showing off his teeth.

"I don't need you to walk me home. I'm too old to have my hand held."

"But what if some big scary man comes to steal you!" Osomatsu held his hands up before putting them forcefully down on the other's shoulders with some growl, he was trying his very best to be a big scary bad guy. His little charade was mediocre at best.

Choromatsu brushed at Oso's hands, trying to get him off. "God, what are you five? No 'big scary man' will come to steal me away from you, Osomatsu-niisan." He looked ahead, his eyes wandering from the other side of the street back to the side they walked down. It was getting late… he frowned.

The streetlights flickered on, as if cued by Choro's thoughts.

An uncomfortable second silence filled the air as the two turned a corner, they were almost home, maybe ten more minutes at the most. Osomatsu was determined to make his brother laugh! He had to figure it out. Everything he'd done so far tonight was but to no avail. He'd barely gotten a chuckle out of him. "Ah.. so stubborn Choromatsu…" He smiled, speaking too quietly for the other to hear. Then Oso moved ahead again, taking Choromatsu's hand as he turned down a sideroad and began to run.

"Osomatsu-niisan!"

No answer.

"Osomatsu! Hey! Hey listen to me! Slow down!" His cries were all but ignored as the eldest continued to run down the road, passing buildings and heading almost to the cities edge, to a quieter part of the district. The side with small shops, not the large ones. The side of town with markets in the square, small ones. Everything was small here.

He began to slow down as they got to the river, where it let out and branched off, breaking the district in two. Osomatsu's head turned and his eyes met with Choro's. For a moment he was silent. He just kept his gaze steady before turning it again to look at the water.

"Why did you bring me here?"

"Because it looks nice." Oso tried to stay positive, he could have sworn Choromatsu liked coming to the water's edge. Seeing the reflections in the water.. hearing the sounds of the water's dance as it moved down and away from their spot on it's bank.

"Sure it looks nice, but we need to get home. It was a waste of time."

Osomatsu's argument was failing and he could see it crumbling right in front of him! It hurt so bad. He could still fix this!

"No, just wait a minute, sit here with me and enjoy the silence. It must be nice to get away from everyone every so often." He waved a hand and grinned, sitting down on the grass. When Choro stayed standing, Oso reached up and grabbed his hand, pulling him down as well.

This was a waste. Choro was hungry! Dinner was near ready and their brothers would eat everything if they didn't get back. He rested his chin against the palm of his hand, his eyes locked on his shoes—he was pouting. "Osomatsu-niisan. You're the one I have to get away from!" He looked over at him and frowned, "You're the loud one!"

At first, it seemed Oso was hurt, but it lasted barely a second, as instead he lifted his head up in a howl of laughter. He fell onto his back and kept laughing. He got quiet as it became less humorous and it just started to hurt. He smiled and stared at the sky, the stars smiling down at him. Hah… that sounded like something Kara would say. He turned to look at Choro. "Hey," he started to speak, "you know, you really do worry about things a lot Choromatsu. It's funny~" He stuck his tongue out. Still no reaction from Choro. "Come on! Niisan wants to make you happy! Let me hear your laugh! Let me hear the one where you snort and your eyes close!" He began to roll around in the grass, his arms over his head as he laughed again.

"You're sweater might stain! Stop it!" He reached over quickly, but as his hand rested on Oso's chest, his was pulled from his seat and wrestled over. Osomatsu began to roll him over, trying to wrestle around against Choro's cries to stop or knock it off. The play fight continued until a small laugh escaped the normally uptight Choromatsu. That small cue made Oso stop. He pushed himself up, positioned in a hover above his younger brother.

"See! That wasn't so hard!" He sounded so happy and ruffled Choro's hair, it was usually a move he'd use on Ichi, but Choro deserved the attention today. "You're such a good little brother." He nodded and then stopped, staring down at Choro. Then he helped him up, they sat again, side by side staring at the water rush past.

This time the silence was nice. It was accepted between them, no longer considered a burden. Oso closed his eyes and smiled, yeah, it was a nice silence. He heard Choromatsu let out a small sigh, so he tried to put his attention on the younger brother.

"You know, I noticed this before, but.. don't the stars look nice reflected against the water?" He asked the question in a way where it was more likely to be considered a statement. Choromatsu dug his nails into the grass. A rhythmic pace which kept the empty side of his mind occupied while he spoke. Similar to a nervous tick. He couldn't just speak without feeling some pang of nerves. "Why did you want to bring me out here? We could have just gone home."

"Hmm~ a good question Choro-kun!" Osomatsu smiled again and patting Choro's hand, in a subtle note of understanding. In return Choro held his hand as Osomatsu continued to speak, "I guess I wanted to see you happy again. You haven't laughed lately. Not much." He jerked his thumb up and motioned to himself enthusiastically, "That's why I'm here! I'm here to cheer you up! Dear old niisan wants to keep all this good little brothers happy." He nodded, then ran his thumb over Choro's knuckles, "You don't need to be so worried around us all the time. We judge you, sure, I get it. But we're all assholes so I really don't know why it surprises you."

The sudden confession made Choro stir, his lifted his head and turned it to the eldest, he really did look sorry.. Choromatsu looked away. It was a silent refusal to accept that he knew it was the truth.

Oso frowned, taking Choro's hand closer and almost pleading. "Choromatsu. Listen! I know it might be hard, but I want to be there for you, rely on your older brother!" He paused, shaking his head, "Rely on Karamatsu too! He's pretty useless but he seriously pulls through in the end. He's a good guy. If you don't trust your dear old niisan trust him." He smiled, his expression looking a bit grim. He felt kinda bad now that Choro really didn't accept what he was saying.

"Osomatsu." He excluded the honorific as he spoke, "I do trust you." He nodded, looking down at his shoes. The silence after was brief because. for once, Choromatsu lifted the mood. He couldn't be upset forever after all. He furrowed his brows and tapped the hand which held his own. "Osomatsu-niisan! We need to get going home. Look, you're a mess and it's far past dinner!" He stood up, Oso following suit as he could almost feel the weight lifting off Choromatsu's shoulders. "Come on, you're going to have to wash better than usual at the bathhouse tonight. And you know mom is going to complain that your clothes are so dirty!"

That trademark smiled creeped back onto Oso's face as he let Choro pull him back up to the road, "Ah~ but Choromatsu-kun… you're shirt is all messy too!"

"Because you pushed me around in the dirt you jerk!"

Oso just let out another laugh as Choromatsu held his hand, the trip home no where near as silent as it has been before.


End file.
